New Stone Temple Pilots Singer Reveals What Chester Bennington Told Him After First Show

Jeff Gutt discussed Chester Bennington attending a private Los Angeles showcase performance he had with Stone Temple Pilots in November 2016 in a new Yahoo interview.

“I knew Chester. I’ve known Chester since 2001,” Gutt reveals to Yahoo Entertainment. “I was in a band called Dry Cell, and we were signed by the same guy that signed Linkin Park, so that’s how I knew him. He would come to some of our writing sessions and rehearsals; I’d see him in the studios that we were at. When we were recording, they’d be recording there. We just had a good friendship.”

Gutt and Bennington were such good friends, in fact, that Bennington invited himself to the L.A. showcase. “It my first private audition with STP, and he called and asked if he could come. He wanted to be there for that first show. So, I put him on my guest list. It was very cool that he could be there for that.” Bennington even ended up jumping onstage to sing a couple of songs with Stone Temple Pilots, in what must have felt like a torch-passing moment at the time.

After the show, Bennington told Gutt he’d done an “awesome” job, and Bennington’s company at the event kept Gutt calm. “I was pretty much hanging out with him, because I’ve known him for so long,” Gutt chuckles